This invention relates to an open-topped box or tray formed from a blank and having at least two compartments, and more particularly, to such a box or tray having improved divider means.
In recent years it has become a widespread practice to pack and market small fresh fruits such as strawberries and cherry tomatoes in openwork plastic baskets. The filled baskets are, in turn, conventionally shipped and stored in open-topped shallow boxes or trays which may also be suitable for display of the produce by the retailer. The trays are customarily formed from a single blank of double-faced corrugated fibreboard.
While such trays comprise essentially a bottom wall, a pair of opposed side walls and a pair of opposed end walls, they are handled most efficiently in pallet-load units and may otherwise be stacked to substantial heights. To provide the vertical compressive strength necessary for such handling and stacking, and to enhance the rigidity of the tray, the end walls are reinforced, and a relatively sturdy divider is provided intermediate the end walls. The divider also partitions the interior of the tray into two compartments.
The divider conventionally comprises a central panel disposed above the bottom wall and bridging the side walls. A pair of lateral panels extend downwardly to the bottom wall from opposite sides of the central panel. Each of a pair of base flaps extends from a respective one of the lateral panels at a lower side thereof adjacent to the bottom wall. A pair of locating tabs each project from a respective one of the lateral panels at the lower side thereof, the locating tabs being received in a corresponding pair of locating slots formed in the bottom wall. The base flaps are normally fastened to the bottom wall, as by means of an adhesive. This secures the elements of the divider in position and acts to prevent the bottom wall from sagging under the weight of the fruit.
It is important to note that in conventional trays the base flaps extend away from one another and consequently lie on either side of the divider. They are therefore exposed to view when the tray is empty and they obtrude into the respective compartments along the bottom wall. Accordingly, baskets placed adjacent to the divider rest partially on the base flaps and are thereby elevated or tilted relative to the bottom wall. This gives an unstable and uneven appearance to the display of baskets.
More importantly, however, the cut edge of the base flap is exposed to the adjacent baskets. Portions of the fruit which protrude through the interstices at the bottoms of the baskets as a result of the elevation or tilting thereof are bruised or lacerated by the corner of the exposed edge, thereby threatening customer acceptance and satisfaction. Harm to the fruit is aggravated by the relative movement, however slight, which normally occurs between the base flaps and adjacent baskets during handling of the tray. In the case of succulent fruits, bleeding frequently follows, to the additional dismay or annoyance of the party in possession.